


Romance is Dead?

by Nekokratik



Category: One Piece
Genre: 5+1 Things, Attempt at Romance, Comfort No Hurt, Dorks in Love, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Romance, Romantic Gestures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25601503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekokratik/pseuds/Nekokratik
Summary: Marco was a die-hard romantic; he loved everything that had to do with romance, he knew all the troupes and all the cliches, and he loved them all. Ace, on the other hand, wasn't. Ace was a straightforward person that always said what was on his mind, and yet he couldn't bring himself to say three simple words. If he couldn't say them, he would show them! Actions spoke louder than words, how hard could this be?
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 13
Kudos: 98





	1. Chapter 1

Sabo was working passionately on his thesis, staring intently at his laptop screen as his fingers flew over the keyboard. He had been working on this for a couple of months already and after two review sessions with his professor, he was finally at a breakthrough. He was-

Sigh.

He was finishing up his last argument and all he had to do was write his conclusion. After that he would finally be finished and all-

Sigh.

And all that would be left would be to have his paper reviewed by multiple parties. Freedom was so close he could feel it. Sabo already had a one-month schedule planned for the day after his submission. He would spend the first week sleeping and-

Sigh.

"What!" Sabo snapped as he turned towards his brother who had been sighing loudly from the sofa.

"Have you ever said "I love you" to someone?" Ace sighed as he stared at the ceiling.

"What?" Sabo repeated.

"Look," Ace sat up. "How do I tell Marco that I love him?"

Sabo stared at him in confusion before saying, "I love you?"

"No, well yes, but without saying the words," Ace said.

"You've lost me," Sabo threw his hands up in defeat. He quickly saved his work and turned off his computer, knowing his brother, this problem of his would take up the rest of the day.

Ace had been dating Marco for about a year now and although they had small arguments, they had yet to experience any major disagreements or disputes. Everything was going smoothly until Marco had uttered the three words. Ace had been shocked and had barely managed to reply with a hoarse "me, too."

Ever since then, Marco used the phrase more frequently, whether it be when they left for work in the morning or when they went to sleep at night. And every time Ace could only reply with either a nod or a soft "me, too."

Ace had thought about saying the words, but every time he had the chance, his throat would close up and his mouth would dry up.

"But you always say it to me and Luffy," Sabo said.

"Yeah, but it's you and Luffy," Ace waved off his words.

"I don't know if I should be offended or flattered," Sabo frowned. Ace groaned as he covered his face with his hands. "Well, have you tried doing something romantic?"

"I did!"

"There you go, problem solved."

"No, you don't understand," Ace mumbled. He scrubbed his face before turning to his brother to explain his problem.

Ace was not a romantic person or had any interest in the romance genre. Growing up with Luffy, Dadan and Garp, he learned that romance was too complex and only made problems more complicated than they had to be. Because of his blunt and straightforward attitude, he was often mistaken for being rude or inconsiderate.

Marco, on the other hand, was a diehard romantic, so he wanted to do something special for him. And if he couldn't say three simple words, he would have to show him.

His first attempt had been of his own idea. Poems were simple and straightforward, just putting words on a paper and making them rhyme, and yet Ace had written page after page of poetry and none of them sounded right.

He had been going through his latest draft at the dinner table, but he had been so focused that he didn't notice when Marco walked in.

Marco was bustling around getting ready for his late shift at the hospital, but when his lover still didn't look up, he had been intrigued. After he finished packing everything, he stopped by behind Ace's chair and peeked over his shoulder.

_Roses are red,_

_Violets are blue,_

_I don't always write poems,_

_But when I do it's for you._

"That's cute," Marco said as he kissed his temple. "I'm leaving for work now. Bye, I love you."

Ace was startled by his voice, but before he could say anything Marco was already heading out the door.

"Me, too," Ace said to himself before slumping down on the table with a groan.

After that attempt, he decided to ask for suggestions from others.

* * *

For the second attempt, Thatch had suggested fortune cookies. There was nothing more romantic than love messages hidden in a confectionary made by a loved one. Thatch proposed the idea of making the cookies at his father's house since it had a spacious kitchen and all the ingredients they needed.

Ace was not the best at cooking, but with Thatch's help, it turned out to be fun and he only had to make five batches to get some acceptable cookies. Once the cookies had cooled, Ace put them in a small cellophane bag and tied it up with a nice ribbon. Ace stood proudly with his arms at his waist and was caught off guard when Haruta yelled right next to his ear.

Thatch laughed as he watched Ace give chase and took the nicely wrapped package to set it aside. One by one, the rest of the Newgate family arrived for their monthly family gathering, so Thatch set out the leftover cookies for them to munch on as they waited for dinner.

Marco had been the last to arrive as usual, so he headed directly to the kitchen where he was greeted by Thatch. After he got a plateful of food, he joined his brother to watch the commotion in the dining room. They watched as their siblings took turns to arm wrestle with Ace who was laughing as he beat anyone who challenged him.

"Oh, this is for you," Thatch said as he merrily handed over the small bag of cookies. Marco thanked him and put it in his bag so he wouldn't forget it.

When they were having a movie night at home, Marco decided to take out the bag of cookies. He broke a fortune cookie in half to take out the piece of paper before eating it. "Oh, Thatch," he chuckled.

Ace who had walked in with an armful of snacks looked at him questioningly.

"Just Thatch being himself," Marco said as he showed him the small piece of paper filled with hearts and the phrase "I love you!" written in elegant cursive writing in the center.

"Oh, um," Ace mumbled as he sat down and fiddle with his fingers.

"Did you help out with the baking?" Marco asked and Ace nodded. Marco pulled him close to kissed him. "Thank you for putting up with my family. They are a rowdy bunch, but they also like to do cheesy stuff like this from time to time."

"Yeah, no problem," Ace mumbled.

* * *

The third attempt was a suggestion from Izo who suggested that he should play a song to convey his feelings. Since Ace was a guitarist, it should be a piece of cake. After a whole afternoon debating which songs were the most romantic, they finally came to a conclusion.

Ace had been practicing the song for a couple of weeks now, and he decided today was a good day as any to put his plan in motion.

He was strumming his guitar on the couch with the music sheet and the lyrics pulled up on his laptop besides him. He knew that Marco would be home any time now, and sure enough, there was the sound of the door being unlocked.

Ace started playing the song, gaining more confidence with each note.

" _What would I do without your smart mouth? Drawing me in and you kicking me out._ "

Marco set his things down and went to change into more comfortable clothing before joining Ace on the couch.

" _'Cause all of me, loves all of you. Love your curves and all your edges, all your perfect imperfections._ "

Marco hummed along as Ace sang.

" _Give your all to me, and I'll give my all to you. You're my end and my beginning, even when I lose I'm winning. 'Cause I give you all of me, and you give me all of you,_ " Ace's voice tapered off and he strummed the last couple of notes on the sheet.

"That was really nice," Marco said, making Ace grin proudly. "What's the occasion?"

"Oh, um," Ace stuttered. He fiddled with the strings which made soft acoustic tunes. He took a deep breath to gather his wits, but Marco continued before he could say anything.

"Did your grandfather convince you to play for one of his gatherings again?"

Ace buried his face in his hands and groaned in response.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Just let me know in advance so I can go with you," Marco said and kissed his cheek which only made Ace groan louder.

* * *

His fourth attempt was a suggestion from Pops, who told him to take Stefan.

Stefan was the Edward's family dog and the most obedient dog Ace had ever met.

Pops had proposed the idea of Ace taking Stefan to meet Marco after work. After all, what was cuter than a dog in a bow tie to deliver a love letter.

They practiced with Stefan for a couple of weeks, making sure that Stefan knew the importance of the letter and his goal, Marco.

Ace now stood in front of the hospital with Stefan besides him waiting. He knew Marco's schedule and he had made sure to leave earlier just in case, but it seemed like Marco was still working.

Ace was getting bored and he noticed that Stefan was falling asleep, so he decided a small walk in the park across the street wouldn't hurt. They met other dog walkers and Stefan had fun playing with some of them. It was only after they were making their way back that Ace noticed some mud had gotten on Stefan's white fur and the bow tie.

"Oh, well, can't be helped," Ace sighed after he tried scrubbing it out. "At least I put the letter in my pocket."

When Marco was still not out, Ace got an iced drink and they gave him a complementary cup of whipped cream for Stefan. Now they were back to their original spot to wait for Marco. Stefan was happily lapping at the cream as Ace fiddled with the letter in his hands.

While Ace was distracted, he did not notice Marco walking out of the hospital doors, but Stefan did. Just as practiced, Stefan snatched the letter out of Ace's hands and ran towards the blond.

Marco was startled to see Stefan running towards him after a long day at work, but it was quickly overcome by joy. He bended down to pet him, but Stefan insistently nudged the letter against his hand. Marco took the damp letter between his fingertips and with some care he managed to unfold the letter.

The letter was smudged from the mix of whipped cream and saliva making the contents hardly legible.

"Anything you wanted to tell me?" Marco asks as Ace stood before him with his hands covering his red face.

* * *

The fifth attempt was Vista's idea, a bouquet of roses. The most classic and romantic way to tell someone you love them.

Ace had picked up the bouquet of roses from Vista, and as instructed he had immediately placed the bouquet in a vase with water. He wrapped a nice ribbon around the vase and attached a card to it.

_To Marco_

_From Ace_

Now all he had to do was wait for Marco to come home. There were no other distractions, no way to misunderstand this, surely this time he would be able to convey his feelings.

As he waited, he fell asleep on the couch and only woke up later to the sound of computer typing.

"Hey, welcome back," Ace said softly.

"I'm back," Marco replied as he looked up from this laptop to smile at him. "So, what’s with the flowers?"

Ace can feel the blood rushing to his face as he remembered the bouquet of roses standing out from their simple kitchen.

"I, uh, I wanted to … there was something I wanted to tell you," Ace starts. He reminds himself to breath before continuing. "Marco, I," he gulped. "I have been trying to tell you this for a couple of weeks now. I um."

Ace looked down at his hands clenched at his pants. He could hear his heartbeat beating loudly in his eardrums, his breath was getting shorter, and his throat was dry.

He was startled when he felt the couch shift besides him. Marco had moved from the loveseat to the couch to wrap his arms around his partner.

"Hey, it's ok," Marco said as he kissed him. "Don't worry about it for now."

Ace shifted to rest his head on Marco's shoulder and sighed at the comfortableness.

"I really tried," he mumbled.

"I'm sure we'll be able to fix it," Marco said. "Whatever you broke couldn't have been that bad."

"What?" Ace looked up at him.

"Or if you think you did something wrong, we can talk about it."

"Wait, that's not-"

"I know you are tired of me telling you this but think about the consequences before you act."

Ace groaned loudly as he rubbed his face roughly on his lover's shirt.

* * *

"Well, that sucks," Sabo commented after Ace finished telling his tale. They were sitting on the sofa with Ace taking up most of the space. Ace had his feet on Sabo's lap and took advantage of the position to kick around. "All right, all right!"

Sabo leaned away and laid on the opposite side of the sofa. He tangled their legs together to stop Ace from flailing and sighed.

"Well, how about this," Sabo started. "A romantic dinner."

Ace looked at him with interest and waved at him to go on.

"We'll help you decorate the whole apartment, set the table for a nice candle lit dinner, and have Sanji walk you through the cooking. Something simple where you can write "I love you" on the food," Sabo said.

"You know, sometimes I think you are smart," Ace said after some contemplation which made Sabo kick him.

Sabo texted everyone through a group chat and after a couple of minutes of laughing at Ace's expense, they got planning.

Sanji decided steak and potatoes was simple enough, and Ace could doodle all he wanted on the steak. Robin suggested they use tealight center pieces rather than actual candles to avoid a fire hazard, and Nami and Koala got a bouquet of assorted flowers. Usopp worked with the rest to make strings of red hearts.

On the day of the dinner date, Sanji worked with Ace in the kitchen as everyone else decorated the apartment. The only strings of hearts that resembled hearts were those made by Usopp and Zoro; Luffy's were pieces of polygons that kept breaking apart, and Chopper had been busy patching up Luffy's scissor cuts and papercuts.

In no time, the decorations were hung up along with some fairy lights, the bedroom was littered with rose petals, and the food was left in the oven to keep warm.

Luffy and his friends decided to leave before Luffy could destroy anything while Sabo and Koala stayed behind to help Ace get ready.

After taking a shower, Sabo helped him with his hair and Koala picked out an outfit for him.

"Are you ready?" Sabo asked as he patted him on the back.

"As I will ever be," Ace mumbled as he fiddled with his hair, only to have Sabo smack his hand away. As they were glaring at each other, Koala walked in.

"All right, everything is set," Koala said. She took a hold of the back of Sabo's shirt and started dragging him towards the door. "We'll be on our way then. Good luck!"

Ace waved them off and went to lie down on the couch. He decided to play some games to avoid falling asleep as he waited.

When Marco got home, he was greeted by the sound of his lover's angry voice cursing and swearing. As he walked further into the apartment, he noticed the red paper hearts hanging all over the living room.

"I'm back," Marco said.

"Welcome back," Ace answered distractedly. He was so focused on his game that it took him a couple of seconds to realize that Marco was back from work. "Oh! Welcome back!"

"So, what is with all this?" Marco chuckled as he looked around their decorated living room.

"Go change," Ace said as he pushed Marco by the shoulders towards the bedroom. Once the door was closed, Ace hurried to the kitchen to set the finishing touches on the dishes.

When Marco walked into their kitchen and dining room, he was surprised. "Um."

The lights were dimmed and there were more red paper hearts and fairy lights hanging on the cupboards and the windows. The table was covered with a pristine white tablecloth and there was a beautiful flower centerpiece illuminating the room. There were covered dishes set all around the table along with napkins and utensils. Ace stood behind one of the chairs that had been pulled back, and he gestured his lover to sit.

Marco sat down as he continued to take everything in.

"Wine?" Ace asked as he sat down in the opposite seat.

"Sure," Marco nodded. "So, what's the occasion?"

"Nothing," Ace shrugged. "Just wanted to do something special."

Marco smiled when Ace waved at him to uncover his dish. He lifted the cover and felt his smile grow even wider. It was a nice steak and potatoes dish, but what gave him joy was the scrawl of sauce on top of the meat.

_I 🤍 U_

He looked up to see his lover blushing and fiddling with his fingers. Marco reached over to take Ace's hand in his and kissed the top of his hand. "I love you, too."


	2. Chapter 2

Marco sighed after taking a sip of his hot coffee. He was sitting at the dining table, enjoying a rare peaceful morning. Usually, he was the one who rushed to get ready in the mornings to get ready for work, but today was his day off.

He woke up early as usual and prepared a simple breakfast of eggs and toast. Now he was relaxing with his morning coffee as he caught up with the news.

Marco smiled as he heard his lover thumping and rummaging around to get ready for work. As usual, Ace liked to sleep in no matter how many times Marco tried to wake him up which meant rushed mornings.

Marco would have never thought he would ever end up in a relationship like this, with someone like Ace, someone who was crass and blunt with no sense of romance.

When he was a kid, he had dreamt about meeting the love of his life. They would bump into each other in a coffee shop or be stranded together under the rain; they would take walks on the beach with a beautiful sunset; they would have arguments but they would end them in hugs and kisses; they would spend holidays together and end each year with a magical kiss.

Marco loved romance and everything that had to do with it. He watched every romantic movie there was and read every romance book he could get his hands on.

Everyone that knew him, knew of his love for romance, specially his family. So, when he introduced them to Ace, they were confused to say the least.

Marco still thought fondly back to when they first met. Marco had been sleep-deprived from working on his thesis. He was walking down the hallways of his dorm in search for more caffeine when someone had bumped into him. He grunted from the lack of energy and squinted at the person before him.

Ace had apologized to him, but Marco remained motionless even when the other waved a hand in his face. When Ace asked him for his room number, Marco had only replied instinctively to the key words "room number." He was escorted back to his room, which was left unlocked, and he was laid down on his bed where he promptly passed out.

When he woke up, he was feeling much better. He looked for his phone and when he found it, he saw a sticky note stuck to the screen.

_You're hot, text me if you're interested_

On the bottom of the sticky note was a phone number.

Marco had texted him to thank him, and before he knew it, they started dating after one week.

They went on dates and did everything a couple did. Ace always said what was on his mind and was horrible at subtlety, but Marco loved him for it.

Marco didn't get his romantic walks on the beach nor did he get romantic resolutions under the rain, but he did get Ace. He had someone who brought him lunch when he forgot, who cared for him when he got sick, who called him out when he got unreasonable, and someone who did things they didn't like only because it made Marco happy.

"Morning!" Ace said as he rushed into the kitchen. He made himself a cup of coffee and chucked it down in one go. He wolfed down two pieces of toast and grabbed a third one to go. "I'm off to work now," Ace kissed him on his way out. "Love you. I'm passing by the Baratie tonight, so you don't need to make dinner. Bye."

Marco smiled at the sound of the door closing. As usual, Ace was a whirlwind in the mornings, not even giving him the chance to say, "good morning." But it was also a morning unlike this one that Ace made him the happiest. It was after all the first time Ace had told him "I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is 100% inspired by that one panel in the Oden flashback of Marco and Jozu being sweet little beans gushing about romance. Marco is totally a romantic and you can't change my mind. Ace, on the other hand, I do not think is a romantic, not completely, which I can relate to. I love romance, but you'd have to hit me in the face with it attached to brick in order to make me realize that someone is doing something romantic to me.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed!!


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